Live: ASX to rise as Wall Street ends flat, gold jumps on demand

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Market snapshot

  • ASX 200 futures: +0.2% to 8,217 points
  • Australian dollar: -0.3% to 62.19 US cents
  • S&P 500: +0.1% to 6,043 points
  • Nasdaq: +0.1% to 20,055 points
  • FTSE: +0.4% to 8,134 points
  • Spot gold: +0.8% to $US2,634/ounce
  • Brent crude: -0.6% to $US73.12/barrel
  • Bitcoin: +3% to $US95,433

Price current around 7:50am AEDT

Live updates on the major ASX indices:

Could cash make a comeback?

Global systems outages, such as the CrowdStrike failure, can leave organisations without access to digital payment methods.

The federal government is consulting on plans to mandate that businesses selling essential items must accept cash.

The government says the mandate will come in from January 1, 2026, depending on the outcome of the consultation.

Read more from Business Reporter Nassim Khadem.

Wall Street ends flat

Wall Street’s main indexes closed largely unchanged on Thursday, amid light trading the day after the Christmas break, as rising US Treasury yields weighed on some of the dominant technology megacaps.

On a day of few catalysts, investors responded to yields on US government bonds inching higher, including the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hitting its highest since early May at 4.64% earlier in the session.

A strong auction of seven-year notes early in the afternoon though helped yields come off slightly, with the 10-year note at 4.58% in late-afternoon trade.

Higher yields are traditionally seen as negative for growth stocks, as it raises the cost of their borrowing to fund expansion. With markets increasingly dominated by the megacap technology stocks known as the Magnificent Seven, crimping their performance – especially in lieu of other market catalysts – will put downward pressure on benchmark indexes.

Among those megacap stocks, Tesla, Amazon and Meta Platforms slipped. Apple increased, continuing to edge closer to becoming the first company in the world to hit a market value of $US4 trillion.

The megacap techstockscame off somewhat in the summer, as investors sought to rotate some capital into other sectors offering more value. Since the US elections in November though, they have resumed their drive upwards and have outperformed the equal-weighted version of the S&P 500, said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial.

“As a technician, what you want to see is breakouts in absolute terms and relative terms and the Mag 7 is checking the boxes there, so very constructive leadership going into the year-end,” he said.

The three main indexes have hit multiple record highs this year on hopes of a lower interest rate environment and the prospects of artificial intelligence boosting corporate profits.

However, US stocks have hit a speed bump in the final month of the year following an election-led rally in November as investors assess the Federal Reserve’s projection of fewer interest rate cuts in 2025.

ICYMI: Dan Ziffer’s Finance Report

Wall Street rises, benchmark US yield ekes out new high

Wall Street indexes were marginally higher and US benchmark Treasury yields were hardly changed on the day after scaling the highest levels since May inlight, post-Christmas trading.

US stocks steadied after the three major indexes slipped in early trading, interrupting what looked like a “Santa Claus rally” shaping up early this week, in which shares get a seasonal boost from low liquidity, tax loss harvesting and investment of year-end bonuses.

Uncertainties around President-elect Donald Trump’s policies lifted gold prices. This, along with the Federal Reserve’s less dovish messaging about lowering rates further next year, helped elevate the 10-year Treasury yield to its highest since early May.

“It’s light volume and now we are recovering some earlier losses due to some profit taking from Tuesday’s rally,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. “I think we’re in the Santa Claus rally, with a little bit of a bump in the road here today, and it’s probably safe to say the year-end rally will continue.”

With only a handful of trading days remaining in the year, the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and the Dow have scored respective gains of 33%, 26% and 14% in 2024.

The major concerns for 2025 are the extent of the Fed’s monetary easing, Trump’s tariffs and other policies, andvarious geopolitical tensions.

New US claims for unemployment benefits came in slightly below analysts’ estimates, while ongoing claims jumped to their largest number since November 2021, suggesting laid off workers are having increasing difficulty finding new jobs.

ASX to open higher

Good morning and welcome to our Friday’s markets live blog, where we’ll bring you the latest price action and news on the ASX and beyond.

A rally on Wall Street overnight sets the tone for local market action today.

The Dow Jones index rose 0.1 per cent, the S&P 500 up 0.1 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1 per cent.

ASX futures were up 19 points or 0.2 per cent to 8,217 at 7:30am AEDT.

At the same time, the Australian dollar was down 0.3 per cent to 62.18 US cents.

Oil gave up earlier gains due to China stimulus hopes and an industry report showing lower US inventories.

Brent crude oil was down 0.6 per cent, trading at $US73.12 a barrel.

Gold advanced on safe-haven demand as investors awaited further signals on the US economy’s health.

Spot gold gained 0.8 per cent to $US2634.19.

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